BURGENLAND CROATS ORGANISE TRADITIONAL BALL IN VIENNA

VIENNA, Jan 17 (Hina) - Croats from Burgenland held a ball on Saturday evening at the 'Schoenbrunn' hotel in the Austrian capital, under the auspices of Vienna's Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Michael Haupl and Bernchard Goerg respectively. The Croatian Burgenland Cultural Association head, Ivan Domnanovic, welcomed guests and emphasised the importance of cherishing Croatian customs and culture which descendants of Croatian immigrants in Burgenland had fostered in Austria for centuries. At the beginning of the event, the Burgenland Croat ensemble "Slavuj" ("Nightingale") that plays Croatian traditional folk songs and dances, carried out a programme. Croatian Ambassador to Austria, Ivan Ilic, was pleased to see how Burgenland Croats cherished their Croatian identity adding that the traditional ball, organised in Vienna for the 51st time, was the proof for it. The first Austrian Ambassador to the independent Republic of Croatia, Endre Berlakovich, also attended the event. Vienna organises around 300 balls from the very beginning of the year until the Lent. The ball season, a part of which is the Burgenland Croat ball, commences with the imperial ball at Hofburg. Besides the traditional evening of the Burgenland Croats, there is a ball organised by the Croatian-Austrian group for culture and sport at the beginning of February in Vienna as well. (hina) ms